Proportioning apparatus



Sept; 3, 1929. ca; B. EGGERT PROPORTIONING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 25. 19282 Sheets-Sheet M A TTORNE Y.

Sept. 3, 1929. G, EGGERT 1,726,812

PROPORTION/INF: APPARATUS Filed Feb. 25, 1928 2 sheets shget 2 Frjg l-INVENTOR.

A TTORNE Y.

Patented Sept. 3, i929.

NI E STATES,

PATENT oFFicE.

GUSTAV B. EGGBI'I, OII' MGIN'AW, 110816, ASSIGNOB 1'0 rams. OOI- 7 run,INQ, OI IAGINLW, A CORPORATION 01 m YORK.

rnoron'rronn we nuance.

Application ma rebma'r as, was. mm mi. cum;

' This invention is a proportioning appara-'.

tus by which a number of different materials in powder or granular formcan be simultaneously delivered to a conveyor or other receptacle in anydesired proportion.

The invention is well adapted for mixing various grades of flour, andfor that reason it is especially useful in bakeries where it is requiredto proportional-1y mix large quantities of flour of various k1nds.

The -machine is capable of delivering two kinds of material in anydesired pro ortion and can be quickly adapted to mix t ree or more, anytwo of which can be easily varied as to their relative roportions. 3 Y

My invention app ies more particularly to a plroportioning machine ofthe type in which o r is em 10 ed having movable artitior fsiherein vhih h dividethe hopper mto compartments of various sizes for the purposeof adjusting the machine to deliver any reifiuired proportion of thedifferent mate'- ma s.

The novel features of my improvement include means for msurm the rate ofoperation of the machine itself may be varied. I employ a new means forremoving the material simultaneously from all the compartments. Itconsists in an im proved arrangement of conveyor troughs and theconveyors therein. The objects attained by the new conveyor arran ementare positive operation and no liabi ity of gumming or sticking as whentrains of rolls are employed.

Another ob 'ect is to secure a more uniform rate of feed rom eachcompartment of the mixing screw which is common to all the compartmentsand also. toavoidall liability of causing the material to pack on thescrews, conseqluently assuring easy running.

Wit the foregoing and certain other objects in view, which will appearlater in the specification, my invention comprises the 'devicesdescribed and claimed and the equivalents thereof.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a. top plan view.

2 is a vertical sectional view on the line 22 of Fig.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line of different materials that thedelivered proportions as fixed by t e ad1ustment of thepartitions willbe maintained, even though As is clearly shown in the drawings, the

body of the proportioning machine consists essentially in a box-likehopper 1.

For proportionallfilelivermg a number of I m the hopper and forvariously fixing the proportions according to any desired formula, Iprovide in the I hop r, as is 'commonlydone in this class of mac mes,one or more vertical partitions 2 arranged so they roan be movedsidewise to divldethe hopperainto two or more compartments. I have showntwo such partitions, making three compartments.

The means by which the partitions are fixed in place, and also the meansfor movmg them, may, be of any desired construc- 11011 and arrangement.I prefer, however,

the well known arrangement shown in Figs.

2 and 3, where two su porting bars 3, 3 s an the hopper from si e wallto side wall.

he partitions 2 are apertured to receive and slide alongthe bars 3, 3and are held substantially vertical b means of tubular sleeves orbearings-'4 t at can be clamped to the bars h set screws 5. y

I wi now describe the novel means which operate in conjunction with themovable partitions, whereby I'attain the above stated obylect's of myinvention.

he bottom of the hopper is made up. of a plurality of conveyor troughs 6arranged side by side and close together. In each trough is' ascrewconveyor 7. The side walls 8 of thetroughs project upward a shortdistance. above the to working surfaces of the conveyors 7. All t econveyors are arranged to deliver theirmaterial at one end of thehopper. They-may discharge into a collecting ribbon conveyor 9 as shownin the drawings, or into any other suitable receptacle. The conveyors?are all driven simultaneously and at speeds that are in fixed proportionto each other, preferably equal. The means-by which 1 the conveyors 7are driven depends upon the *kind of conve or employed. For purpose ofillustration, have shown in the drawings screw conveyors driven bysuitable gearing 10 which receives motion from a drive shaft 11. Thismay be driven by a chain 11 from the shaft of conveyor 9. I. prefer thescrew or ribbon type of conveyor for proportioning flour mixtures, butany other suitable kind of conveyors may be employed without departingrom my invention as claimed.

The partitions 2 are illustrated as set to a rate roportional to thenumber of con-f veyors t at comprise its bottom.. If the speed of thedrive shaft 11 varies, the relative pro-- portions of the deliveredmaterials will still remain constant. I

In order to make the machine compact and self contained, andto properlyrotec't the working parts so as to avoid acci ent, I have incorporatedcertain novel structural features. For example, the front and back walls12, 13 of the hopper converge downwardly as shown in Fig. 2. Thisenables short conveyors to beemployed and permits the driving gearsIOand main drive shaft 11 to be disposedunderneath the over-hanging wall12 of the hopper, and also permits the collecting conveyor 9, as well asthe outboard bearings 7 for the proportioning conveyors 7 to be locatedunderneath the other over-hanging Wall 13 of the hop er. Theover-hanging ends may be closed in y end plates 14, 15.

The lower end 13 of wall 13 overhangs the delivery end of the screw 7sufficiently to prevent fiourtfrom escaping direct from the. compartmentinto conveyor 9 without first being subjected to the measuring action ofscrew 7 By the means above described I have produced a simple, compact,strong 'and'eflicient proportioningmachine that takes different kinds ofmaterial as dumped from barrels or sacks, and delivers'them in anydesired or predetermined pioportion, the proportions being constant,regardless of the rate at which the machine as a whole may be operated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent 1s 1. In a proportionin machine comprising a hopperhaving mova e dividing walls, the

bottom of said hopper formed of a pluraliglpf conveyor troughs parallelto said divi g walls and separated by sidewalls that are ada t'ed whenin alinement with a movable di viding wall to form therewith a partitionwithin said hopper, conveyors for movin material lengthwise saidtroughs, and dr vingmeans for said conveyors.

2. In a roportioning machine com rising a hopper avmg movable divldingwa s, the

bottom of said hopper formed of parallel con.

veyor troughs arranged close together and separated by the common sidewalls of adjacent troughs, said side walls adapted when in alinementwith said movable dividing wall to form therewith a partition for saidhopper, conveyors in said troughs and a common driving means for saidconveyors, and a collecting conveyor at the ends of said troughs, forthe purposes set forth.

3. In a proportionin machine com rising a hopper havin mova le dividingwa Is, the

bottom of said hopper-formed with parallel conveyor troughs separated byside walls of adjacent troughs, said side walls adapted when inalinement with a movable dividing wall to form therewith a partition forsaid hopper, a screw conveyor in each trough and 5. A structure as setforth in claim 2 where-' in the be per is 'formed with an outwardlyoverhanging end wall, said common driving means and collecting conveyorbeing disposed beneath said overhangin end wall.

In testimony whereof afiix my si nature.

GUSTAV B. EGciaRT.

